All of Argos‘ stores remain profitable, says finance director Richard Ashton, as the retailer posted a like-for-like sales rise for the eight straight quarter.
LFL sales rose 4.9 per cent to £868m as Argos justified its decision to keep its large store estate following analyst and investor concerns.
Home Retail Group, who own Argos and Homebase, says demand for click and collect or what the company calls “check and reserve” is now seen as an advantage over the pureplay model. Homebase closed one store in Q1 and reduced store space by 2.5 per cent as seasonal products drove a LFL sales rise.
“We have had a good start to the year,” said John Walden, chief executive of Home Retail Group.
“This growth was aided by a strong performance in seasonal products in both businesses, due to better weather overall versus the comparable period last year.” LFL sales at Homebase rose 7.9 per cent as sales in garden furniture and made up around 40 per cent of all sales.
Argos has also jumped on the housing boom with the launch of new home and furniture brand ‘Heart of House.‘
Walden concluded: “Argos delivered further sales growth in electrical products whilst Homebase achieved growth in sales of big ticket products.”
